Feud Ends In Shooting, Police Say

SUNRISE — Loud arguments were fairly common at Debbie Baker's house, neighbors said. But none had ever come to such a violent conclusion.

A few minutes after 3 a.m. Saturday, a gun blast exploded and Baker fell to the ground. She was shot in the face at point blank range by an 18-year-old who had come to her house looking for her son, police said.

Firefighters arrived minutes later and rushed Baker to Broward General Medical Center, where she was in critical condition, said Police Lt. Robert Voss.

The suspect, Charlie Gibbs, was arrested less than a mile from the scene, at Sunrise Boulevard and Nob Hill Road, a few minutes after the shooting, Voss said. Gibbs lives just a few blocks from Baker's townhouse, in the 10800 block of Northwest 29th Manor.

He was charged with attempted murder and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony.

Gibbs, whom people in the neighborhood call "Charlie Brown," had been involved in a long-running feud with Baker's son, Voss said. The teenager was not home when Gibbs banged on Baker's door early Saturday morning, but Baker, her teenage daughter and her husband, Wayne Lance Carlson, all came outside and began arguing with Gibbs.

The fight escalated, Voss said, and when Baker's husband began to dial 911, Gibbs pulled out a gun and fired one shot at Baker. He sped off in a late-model Oldsmobile driven by a friend as Baker's husband screamed into his phone that his wife had been shot and Baker's daughter cried and banged on a wooden sign outside the home.

Many neighbors heard the commotion, but they did not want to give their names because they said they feared the people who hang around Baker's house.

"The screaming woke me up," one neighbor said. "Just as I sat up in bed, I heard the bang. Then I heard the squealing as the car took off."

Neighbors said police were called to Baker's house often for disturbances and that Baker made a habit of getting involved in her son's fights.

An acquaintance of both Gibbs and Baker's son, Matt, said the son thought Gibbs was responsible for slashing his tire recently. Police said a confrontation broke out whenever the two saw each other.

The friend was surprised that Gibbs, who works at McDonalds's, would pull a gun.

"I'd think he'd fist-fight the kid rather than come around and [try to] shoot him," he said.

No matter what the two were fighting about, "that doesn't give [Gibbs] the right to shoot someone's mom," another neighbor said.

Staff Researcher Patricia Parker contributed to this report.

Shannon O'Boye can be reached at soboye@sun-sentinel.com or 954-356-4597.